Thus this beneficent Dawn Goddess is always helping mankind in their troubles, and scattering abroad so much wisdom that she came to be called in Greek mythology the Goddess of Wisdom.
The Indian and the Japanese stories following show other fancies about gods of the sky and air. “The Lover’s Vision of the Happy Land” gives a picture of the home of departed spirits in the sky. “The Message-Bearers” is related to the idea that the wind is a messenger of the gods, but it is the wind in the form of the repeated sounds in echoes.
The Indians[9] were in the habit of frequenting rivers with high, wooded banks, or ravines with precipitous sides where reverberations could be heard for miles, until they would die away in the distance. There they would stand for hours shouting and listening to the echoing shouts as they leaped from shore to shore, or from hill to mountain, and from mountain to valley—on and on into silence; always firmly believing that the words were called from one to another of the faithful spirits until they reached the ears of their loved ones, and finally the Great Spirit himself.
“The Way of the Gods” describes a god of the infinite sky as the beginning of all things.
HYMN TO THE DAWN
(From the “Rig Veda”)
The radiant Dawns have risen up for glory, in their white splendor live the waves of waters.
She maketh paths all easy, fair to travel, and rich hath shown herself, benign and friendly.
We see that thou art good: far shines thy lustre; thy beams, thy splendors have flown up to heaven.
Decking thyself, thou makest bare thy bosom, shining in majesty, thou goddess Morning.